Graphical narratives and comic drawings have long been used as a form of story telling and narratives (Pilikian 2011). For instance, in the olden times the various drawings of the cavemen helped us understand the story of early humans and how people back then used to live. Interestingly enough this method of representation is also used as a tool of resilience and remembrance. In Chippewas of Thames First Nations reserve, “students at Mt. Elgin Industrial School worked day and night in the barn – leaving their names and notes behind to tell their tale” (LFPress). Their drawings of a car or a man, with their names and dates etched below their drawings, bears evidence of their attempts to hold onto their childhood while they worked at the barn day and night. Also the fact that they put down dates and names shows their desire to be remembered.
With the turn of the twenty first century, the use of comics and graphic narratives is growing more and more popular and reflects increasing hybridization of art and culture (Pilikian 2011). A group of researchers at Stanford university formed “The Graphic Narrative Project”, an academic research study conducted to explore the different narratives portrayed through graphic and comic art form. One student Vanessa Chang talked about how such graphic narratives were an effective way to bridge together visual and narrative components of a story. The students wanted to analyze the cultural impact of graphic and comic narratives, because they believed “graphic narratives have the capacity to create novel and highly interactive artworks” (Pilikian 2011). Elaborating more on the usefulness of comic and graphic narratives in storytelling, another student, Shin talked about how “Comics are a really good medium for visual and technological experimentation”. To explain his point, he gave example of Espinosa (an independent comic writer) who avoids using perfect graphics and stylized fonts and images because he wants to leave some room for readers to fill in with their own interpretation, so that it may aid their understanding of the story the way the writer is trying to portray it.
Jared Gardner and David Herman in their study on graphic narratives, also study the different uses of comic and graphic representation and explore their significance in the field of narratives and autobiographies.While previously comic stories were mainly associated with super heroes and fictional stories, they explain how the trend seems to have shifted to address larger issues such as; “autobiography studies, sexuality studies, postcolonial studies” (6). Among other examples they provided for contemporary comic writers who addressed such issues through their art work, was Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Persepolis is a coming of age story of a girl who grew up in Iran during the time of the Islamic revolution. Satrapi beautifully portrays her story through different drawings of characters and places, accompanied by short text descriptions. Once at an interview with Joshua Bearman was asked about why she chose to tell her story through the use of comics, and whether or not she thought it helped her reach a wider audience. She told him that using comics seems to have helped her reach out to more people “because we are in a culture of images now. People are used to seeing stories that way. They understand looking at pictures” (Satrapi). Reading her response, I found myself agreeing to her statement because as a reader I found it very refreshing to read a story narrated by juxtaposition of images and texts. When reading a picture-less story, yes, there is more room for imagination for you as a reader but sometimes in order to understand a story completely, I think one needs to understand the writer’s interpretation of the situation. Satrapi took care of that issue quite well, as looking at different cartoon characters and sceneries she sketched out, the reader can easily grasp the idea Satrapi is trying to portray.
The role of Persepolis as a comic narrative in bridging the gap between reality and the misleading dominant view most people held of Iran, is a significant one. Bearman asked Satrapi about the role of her book as “Cultural bridge” for addressing issues of misunderstandings regarding life and people in Iran, and whether it would have been better for her to have written the book as a text only narrative? Satrapi told the interviewer how she is more comfortable in expressing herself through the graphic and comic medium. She also explained, how words are more like filters and when they are translated from one language to another, some of the content is lost and that creates room for ambiguity in the narrative. And how the use of pictures is more efficient because it tackles the issue of cultural difference between the writer and the reader, that might be more visible or apparent in words. It is through the exploration of above mentioned sources regarding use of comic and graphic narratives, i hoped would help understand why some people prefer to use comic and graphic form of art to tell their tale.
Works cited
ardner, J., and D. Herman. “Graphic Narratives and Narrative Theory Introduction.” Sub-stance 40.1 (2011): 3-13. Project Muse.Web. 18 Mar. 2016.
Bearman, Joshua. “Marjane Satrapi.” Believermag. N.p., Aug. 2006. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
Pilikian, Armine. “Study of Comic Books Helps Scholars Identify Cultural Trends.” Stanford Humanities. N.p., 1 Dec. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
Historic Barn Etchings Tell Tale of Residential Schools.” Vimeo. LFPress, 2012. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. Vol. 1st American. New York: Pantheon, 2003. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.